Although it may have other uses, the invention was made during attempts to improve the performance of a dust collecting vacuum device used for decontaminating concrete floor surface areas within the radiologically controlled areas of a nuclear power plant and will therefore be described in connection with such use.
When surface coatings and other deposits on concrete floors must be removed, or the floor needs resurfacing, it is common to remove anywhere from 1/32" to 3/16" of the thickness of the floor surface by scabbling using hand tools, or preferably, a mobile vehicle on which a scabbling head is mounted. The scabbling of the surface pulverizes the concrete to that depth by rapidly repeated hammer blows of the scabbler pistons which are driven by compressed air and carry tungsten carbide tipped bits. Such pulverizing would produce airborne dust were it not collected by an efficient vacuuming system as it is produced. In nuclear power plants, such scabbling is used to remove radiation-contaminated floor coatings, and it is apparent that the created dust is extremely hazardous. If not efficiently and safely removed, the floor-scraping personnel and others within the area will be subjected to harmful radiation.
Considering the dangerous environment, a remotely operated scabbler vehicle has been devised having an efficient vacuum collection system thereon for removal and temporary storage of the generated dust in a waste bin also mounted on the vehicle. This self-powered and skid-steered six-wheel vehicle is available from Pentek, Inc. of Pittsburgh, Pa., under the trademark, "The Moose". However, the on-board waste bin must be emptied when filled, which unavoidably causes release of at least some contaminated dust into the surrounding air, which prevents the desired complete decontamination of the area being cleaned. Furthermore, because of the size of such machine, it is not possible to use it for some surfaces, such as surfaces near walls or in corners or below obstacles.